Anastri Galandel
The clearing where Salorien motioned for them to stop was inconspicuous, a medium-sized grassy circle surrounded by the sunny, bare forest they’d been walking through for the past couple hours.
“Over there.” Salorien’s voice broke the crystalline silence. “There’s a couple of pillars to the right. When we get close you should watch your step - the ground is riddled with holes.” He sounded oddly flat or muffled. Not his usual energetic self.
Anastri took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if the knowledge of where they were and what they’d set out to do was getting to her, but the midday heat felt oppressive. As if a blanket had been draped over them.
“Where should we go in?” Ash looked around the clearing, peering in the direction Salorien indicated.
“There’s a rather large crevasse over by the pillars. It’s where I was planning to go in before I was jumped by goblins.” Salorien sighed and shifted the weight of his viol. “Luckily they didn’t touch my viol.”
Solus smirked. “I suppose you’d be very upset?”
Salorien looked at her quizzically. “No.” he said. “They’d be dead.”
Smiling, Anastri wandered over to the right and out of the clearing. The trees were all fairly young, nothing like the ancient monsters she’d been so used to growing up. Their branches were thick with green leaves and their floral scent contributed to the eerie brightness of the wood.
After barely thirty seconds of walking, Anastri arrived at the place Salorien had described. Broken pillars jutted out of the ground, contrasting with the sunny atmosphere. They were old - many were worn down by rain, and some fallen sections could barely be seen under their coverings of moss.
“Haunting, aren’t they?”
Anastri spun around, stifling a yelp. A girl was leaning against a tree behind her, arms crossed. She wore light, green-tinted leather armor that blended almost perfectly with the leafed forest. Her red hair was loose and wavy, falling to the top of her shoulders. As Anastri watched she smiled noncommittally and tucked a stray lock behind her ear, revealing a large golden earring.
“Whenever I come here I think about what happened. Imagine the screaming.” The girl took a step closer, her eyes narrowing. “Imagine the dying.”
“Who are you?” Anastri asked, fighting to stay calm. “We don’t want any more killing than necessary, but I warn you...”
She laughed and smiled, genuinely this time. “I’m not here to fight you. We might even be able to agree on some things, I’m not sure. For now, I’m just happy to have someone to talk to. This wood has a lot of memories. They get to you after a while.” She considered, her head tilted slightly to one side. “Like I said, hundreds of people lie here, only remembered by the trees. It’s a lot of responsibility - trees usually want to let people know what they’ve experienced. That’s what I meant when I said they were haunting.” She looked around consideringly. “They mark the unmarked graves of the dead.”
Anastri frowned. “Fascinating. Also super creepy. Also you haven’t told me who you are.” She could see the girl was at least eighty percent wood elf, given the sharp angle of her ears and the almost unnaturally bright green of her eyes. Was there a clan here? It was unlikely - wood elves are sensitive to intrusion and would have let them know if they’d entered their forest.
“Ria,” the girl said with a grin. “Ria Briquel, good to meet you.” She held out a hand.
Bemusedly, Anastri took it. “Good to meet you, Ria. What are you doing here? You seem to know a lot about this place.”
“I’ve been here for some time. Besides...” Ria trailed off, staring over Anastri’s shoulder. Anastri spun around, alarmed, but it was only Ash coming down from the clearing. She turned back to reassure Ria, but she was nowhere to be seen. She had disappeared as quickly and silently as she had appeared, leaving Anastri to wonder if she’d even seen her at all.